CHARLES MARBURG

My paintings are the result of over twenty years of daily work in my studio; of continuous thought about image, shape, color, meaning; and of the very paint I use as an extension of myself, a conduit between my stumbling human efforts and the pale flicker of my unconscious.

I begin with a sketched image that may, or may not, relate to my extensive reading on the workings of the brain and consciousness. From this, I find a door that leads to the next question, and to the next. I love testing the boundaries of my knowledge, and seek to answer the question of what is a "good" painting. I am attempting to contribute to the conversation that goes on, consciously and unconsciously, between the work of contemporary artists, and that of past generations.

As it is my habit to read several books at once, I similarly work on several paintings in the time frame that each demands. An image, color combination, formal device may appear in one painting only to be moved to another; a mistake made here can be successful there. I put one away to wait for its time, while another moves to completion. What is completion? Balance. Gestalt. A hint of the sublime. A connection between me, the painting, and the viewer.